Daddy Types: August 2005 Archives

August 2005 Archives

August 31, 2005

Which One Of You Drove The $6,000 Crib?

DT readers should recognize this kind of article. Knight Ridder reported last month that a lot of the modernist designs appearing in the kid's furniture market these days are being driven by designer/parents who are fed up with the same...
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Foamz: Cheap Cool Euro Furniture For Kids

Wha' happen? Did you blow the kid's college money on that ModBox? No problem. Now you can finish the nursery for like thirty bucks, tops. Belgian designer Robin Delaere just won the ID Annual Design Review for Furniture for...
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Brit Dad Stays Home A Week, Survives To Write About It

Columnist Damian Whitworth turns in a level-headed report of what would otherwise be the premise of an eye-rolling reality tv show: he stayed home for a week with his 2-year-old son. Some things that jump out: So 'new dads' are...
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August 30, 2005

MoxBox Bamboo Storage from ModernTots

Use some of the fortune you saved on the Donald Judd changing table to outfit the rest of your kid's nursery--and your whole house, actually--at ModernTots, a new Brooklyn-based online store and design studio that features some familiar Argington and...
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SPY SHOT: Panasonic Field Tests Restaurant Behavior Management System

Right after getting it, I put it my new phonecam to good use when I surreptitiously snapped a picture of this Restaurant Behavior Management (RBM) system being field-tested at the Vietnamese restaurant near our house in DC. Apparently, it's...
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Pervy Miffy

Not a huge fan of the character-laden gear, but I was buying all sorts of amusing lunch stuff for the kid--like perforated seaweed sheets to make the kid's rice ball into a soccer ball, teeny little soy sauce containers for...
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Diaper Disposal Option Breakdown, Ch. 4

So we went from a Genie to a Champ, then we went from a Champ to a plastic grocery bag. Now, maybe it's the dog days of a DC summer, but since coming back from Japan, we can't seem to...
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Hope You Guessed My Name. [Hint: It Starts With An R]

If you were having any doubts about whether you are demographically appropriate for the new Mercedes R-Class, let me clear them up right now: The R-Class is the official car of the upcoming Rolling Stones tour. Meanwhile, I'm sure it'll...
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Circumcision: 'It's the American Way."

Ah, good. Because what the circumcision discussion has been lacking is good old-fashioned, nationalist class rhetoric. The ContraCosta Times takes a look at some of the issues and advocates for and against circumcision. In the covered corner: some peoplel talking...
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Get. Onto. Your. Belly. Fetal Monitors Are Booming

The Wall Street Journal's Ron Leiber discovers a mini-boom of expectant parents buying or renting fetal monitors to listen to their baby's heartbeat at home [I'm telling you people, you should be out partying and going to movies every night...]....
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Sam's Club Wooden Changing Table Saves You Mad Money

At Christie's auction house a couple of years ago, a desk designed by the late minimalist sculptor Donald Judd sold for $300,000. While he never designed a changing table (that I know of), if he did, it would've turned out...
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August 29, 2005

Slate On The Hot Topics: Circumcision & Delivery Rooms

Slate's columnists weigh in on two topics that have lit up the ol' weblog here the last few days. First, normally, I'd rather have the tip of my penis cut off than agree with Christopher Hitchens on anything, but when...
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New Skool Graf-related Baby Clothes

You can kick it old skool activist with some Zapata bodysuits, or you can kick it new skool, with, um, New Skool baby clothes, designed by a Bay Area graffiti artist for your "extra hip kid." [those plain, old "hip...
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Just Got A Black Cameleon & Wish You Got Red Instead?

What a coincidence. I just got a red Cameleon, and I wish I got black. Don't get me wrong, the red is awesome; it's just that I seem to have forgotten the family council where we decided to get the...
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Baby Store Recommendations In [Your City Name Here]

A while back someone [who missed some good stores on his trip to NYC, I believer[ had the suggestion to get people to put together a list of favorite stores in their home towns. So let's see what we can...
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Vintage Activist Kids Clothing

Ahh, the good old days, when activism meant debating the WTO late into the night at the anarchist bookstore. I'm sure there are all kinds of people who wish that we could turn back the clock to September 10th--or for...
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LVPD: How Not To Forget Your Kid's In The Car

[Las Vegas] Metro police recommend the following to help you remember that your child is in the car: * Leave something important, like a purse if you're a woman, or a wallet if you're a man. * Leave that item...
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LOLOL: Parents Behaving Badly Blog

It starts with the dad who broke his 4-month-old son's leg, supposedly because the kid's incessant crying harshed his "cannabis" buzz, and it goes down(or up, depending)hill from there. It's Parents Behaving Badly, a new blog by Jay Allen of...
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August 28, 2005

If You're Taking The Kid To Burning Man...

Here are some useful links and resources: Kid's not here yet? Check the Pregnant on the Playa section of the Survival Guide. The top three points, though, are dehydration, dehydration, and dehydration. Then heat. As always before going to spend...
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MondKutsche is German for 'Moon Coach'

This versatile, award-winning wooden toy was designed by Dunja Bauer, a German student who's described in one Google translation as "the nut/mother of two children." I wouldn't have thought anything of it, except that the translation also points out that...
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Leander Kid Beds: Something Is Rockin' In Denmark

If you were under the impression that Danish design's best days were behind it, well, you're high. Just check out these two complementary beds for kids by Stig Leander Nielsen and his company, LEANDERFORM. The Leander Cradle was introduced in...
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'Take the Baby from Your Wife, Now'

A breastfeeding mother was arrested mid-feed, allegedly roughed up, and made to spend the night in jail, even after other officers confirmed to her that the situation was an error, a case of mistaken identity. Sounds bad, I know but...
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August 27, 2005

Bonkers: Big Brother Broadcasting Baby's Birth

They make the best strollers, some jamming architecture--and the most blatantly sensationalist TV shows in the world. What is up with Holland? The upcoming version of Dutch Big Brother will apparently have one of the house residents giving birth six...
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Good Morning, Sunshine And Your Folding Car Seat

I can't think of anything funny to say about a car seat that folds in half. I'm too busy wondering why all the other car seat companies haven't been taking the ordeal of airplane travel and the schlepping around...
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August 26, 2005

'Oral Suction, Or In Hebrew, Metzitzah B'peh'

Remember that Orthodox mohel who got in trouble with the 'oral suction' phase of that circumcision, not because he developed his bris pictures at Eckerd's, but because the kid got herpes and died? Yeah, well that's still going on, apparently,...
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Center Fielders Of The World, Unite!

Nice to see I'm not alone in playa-hating at Snoop Dogg's style of coaching his son's little league football team. I mean not only did he buy the kid a starting quarterback spot, he bought the whole league (AND sent...
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YACFK: Yet Another Cellphone For Kids, From Kyocera

You know how there's that automatic pornstar name generator site? Somewhere out there is an automatic cellphone for kids business model generator site, too. If you know the URL, send it along. Clearly, the folks at Kyocera have it. This...
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Congratulations, Jason Goldberg!

If you're a Jason of a certain age, and you had so many Jasons in your class every year growing up, you had to be Jason G, or Jason K, you'd probably develop both a healthy ambition and an appreciation...
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The Angelina Adoptathon Continues

lolol: "Having undergone the necessary preparations, Natalie Portman readies herself to be adopted by Angelina Jolie." [gawker]...
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Latest Installment of The Peanut Chronicles at TMN

I missed linking to a couple of artist/writer Danny Gregory's bi-weekly accounts of waiting for their first kid, The Peanut, to be born. They're all archived here, so read back and get caught up with me, why don't you? In...
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August 25, 2005

Philips Address Recorder To Usher In Golden Era Of Free-Range Parenting

Your kid's not old enough to one-button dial you on their Leapfrog phone, but you still want them to eventually find their way home at the end of the day? No problemm. Wit the Philips SBC SC605 In-Touch Address Recorder,...
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Frog Hataz at Frog Design, or Hipster No Love The Bugaboo

A designer from a major, major firm explains how with "dissonant design" like the Bugaboo or the iPod, the combination of design/function/brand is so powerful, people identify with the products and use them as forms of self-expression, even though they...
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"Black is a hot color for cribs."

The LA Times has a good "modern design: now for kids!" story. Nice quotes from Charley Wheelock, the designer from Kapow [hope it means his Peep stuff is back on track for production.] Also: Orange is the new yellow (i.e.,...
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August 24, 2005

DT Book Review Contest Prizes, Winners

I know what you've all been thinking: enough with the helmets and the random Euro architecture and get on with the prize drawing already! Well, you're right, and fine. But first, I want to give a big thanks to everyone...
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Architect: Send Your Diapers To Holland

Not sure where to classify this; I don't have a hardcore conceptual architecture category yet... Core77 reviews the recent Rotterdam Architecture Biennale, which includes a hypothetical proposal by Niall Kirkwood of Harvard's GSD for to help manage/develop a floodplain along...
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Sweet Modernist Daycare Center in Spain

OK, so maybe all Europeans don't leave their kids alone when they go out. Some, in the Spanish city of Manlleu [pronunciation: yo no se], take them to day care. Sweet, Mies van der Rohe modernism-inspired day care. The...
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Q. What Could Be Stupider Than Meet Mr. Mom?

Remember, there are 873 people lined up to be the king/queen of this country:Bring Your Husband to Heel Mon 22 Aug, 7:00 pm - 7:30 pm 30mins Brand new series where top dog trainer Annie Clayton helps the desperate housewives...
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Look Who's Copyediting

There are so many ways to go with that headline, though... "As it reads now, it's almost as if the movie is about 40 virgins who are still toddlers (not exactly unusual)." Press Wrestles With Grammatically Incorrect 'Virgin' [e&p, via...
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The ThudGuard Makes Me More Worried About The Kid's Inherited Brainpower

While the DOC Band of plagiocephalic fame looks awesome [AND serves a legitimate, even crucial purpose AND is decorateable] the ThudGuard helmet is none of these things, far from it. Invented by a Scottish mom "to help absorb and reduce...
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August 23, 2005

Names Of People In Line For The British Throne

According to the Wikipedia entry, which obviously pulled from some authoritative source--because, let's face it, after a while, you just can't keep making this stuff up--there are 873 people in the line of succession to the throne of England, including...
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If Only Your Kid Was Cool Enough For One Of These Plagiocephaly Helmets

Sometimes parents go to extremes to conform to externally imposed societal norms, ordering elaborate and expensive medical procedures be carried out on their children, just because they think their heads have an abnormal shape or appearance that'll keep them from...
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More On Kids In Nice Restaurants, from KCRW

DT reader Mike sends in this clip from Santa Monica public radio station KRCW's "Good Food" program. The host, restauranteur , talks with LA Magazine food critic Patrick Kuh about taking kids to nice restaurants. They cover some of the...
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Get Out Of The Delivery Room With A Note From The NYT's Doctor

Sure, honey, I'll go into the delivery room with you--if you want me never to be sexually attracted to you ever again. That's the somewhat dire subtext--um, no, actually it's the text-- of Dr. Keith Ablow's column in The New...
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Aeon Flux Drives A Stokke Xplory

For a new dad, there's a threshhold, a tipping point, a point of no return, the point at which you realize not just your life, but your whole outlook on the world has changed irrevocably. Not sure if you've crossed...
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Book Review Contest: How Little Lori Visited Times Square

Title: How Little Lori Visited Times Square Author/Illustrator: Amos Vogel/ Maurice Sendak Reviewer: Eric Schulmiller �This is a very funny book and should not be read while drinking orange juice or you will spill it!" Truer words may never...
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Two Wooden Bikemakers, Both Alike In Dignity

In fair Brooklyn where we lay our scene, From mid-nineties grudge break to new mutiny. and so on and so forth, you know the rest. Bloods and Crips. Sharks and Jets. Hell's Angels and, um, another equally big, scary biker...
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Three CA Supreme Court Rulings Firm Up Rights Of Gay Parents

Except for some sperm donors somewhere--who, it may be relevant to point out, aren't considered fathers under California state law--no men were involved in the three gay parenting cases decided by the CA Supreme Court today. But they could still...
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August 22, 2005

Say It Together, Williamsburg: "MiniJake, You Complete Me"

More spawning in that great, hipster breeding ground known at Williamsburg. This time, it's sweet modern destination Two Jakes who are celebrating their offspring, Minijake, a shop specializing in gear for converting the far corner of your loft from a...
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I Think The Book Review Contest Is Over

If you sent me a review before last Friday night and you haven't seen it on the site, drop me an email. Otherwise, I've just posted the last of the reviews. I'll crunch the numbers and wrap up tomorrow (Tuesday):...
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Anyone Recognize This Plexi Crib?

A DT reader emails in with this query: "I saw online months ago a crib that has a plexiglass front, converts to a toddler bed and is kind of tree fort-esque. It's in the $2K range. It seemed like a...
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Book Review Contest: The Very Busy Spider; On The Beach

Title: The Very Busy Spider [amazon link] Author/Illustrator: Eric Carle Reviewer: Dina [Check out her full review at High Maintenance Mom] Dina sees Carle's book as all too true-to-life: "The Spider is a diligent worker in what could be...
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Book Review Contest: Mice Squeak, We Speak; Munch, Munch; Tails

Reviewer: Amy Johnson writes, "At 6 months old, our daughter had apparently developed a preference in her bedtime book selection, Mice Squeak, We Speak.. Over the next 6 months, she's expanded her interest into the lift-the-flap and touch-and-feel books. Our...
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Book Review Contest: 10 Minutes till Bedtime

Title:10 Minutes till Bedtime Author/Illustrator: Peggy Rathmann Reviewer: Brent & co.Tourist hamster raid Words gone; images detailed New find every night. Rathmann's unstoppable hamsters are just cheeky enough to widen your eyes at their bold antics but polite enough...
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August 21, 2005

Will Some Euros Please Explain The 'Leave The Baby' Thing?

On the Bugaboo snackholder post, a couple of (American) folks have told of their shock when their European friends (and in one case, their Dutch pediatrician) talked of leaving an infant at home while they ventured out for coffee...
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Thanks to Cameleon, Bugaboo Must Now Match Belt, Shoes

"...since the salesman also informed me and my husband that one customer bought the fleece in every color." - via DT reader Dianne, who saw the new Bugaboos at Manhattan's Buy Buy Baby Money and bad taste: they go together...
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The Other The Airplane Book

This isn't part of the contest [seriously, how lame would that be to magically pull my name out of the hat and give myself a prize?], just a coincidence too good to pass up. Like Byron Barton's Airplanes, Art Seiden's...
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August 20, 2005

Introducing DT Travel, And One Airplane Tip

Someone suggested it earlier, and I'd been wondering about it anyway, so here it is, a Daddy Types travel category. I'm going back to pull all the travel-related topics into it, including advice and gear for being away from home,...
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I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke, But There's No Drink Holder

The Europeans wonder why anyone'd want to carry hot coffee near their precious baby's head, or why there aren't more cafes in the US, where you sit and enjoy a nice bite with your family. The Americans--like DT reader Brian--wonder...
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Um, About This Baby Jet Lag?

Seriously, kid, you need to sleep. It's been three nights since we got back to the East Coast from Japan, and the kid has not moved her sleep schedule hardly at all. What gives? Flying from the US to Japan,...
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As If Surrogacy Isn't Difficult Enough...

Imagine the surrogacy nurse, your prime contact at the fertility clinic--who's called "the mother whisperer," she's so good helping her patient/clients through the difficult emotional landscape of having another woman carry their embryos to term--gets arrested for the murder of...
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Wha wha wha?? Bugaboo Cameleon At babystyle Now

Looks like "sometime in September" means "right now, in August." A report from DT reader Dan:i just went to my local babystyle store yesterday. when the lady asked if she could help me with anything i asked her "so...
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August 19, 2005

Book Review Contest: Farmer Duck

Title: Farmer Duck Author/Illustrator:Martin Waddel/ Helen Oxenbury Reviewer: Susan ZemanI love Farmer Duck because the beleaguered workers drive off the lazy fat cat capitalist owner and take over the means of production themselves, but kids love it for the lyrical...
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I'm Sure You're Kid's Cute, But...

Is your kid as cute as these baby porcupines hedgehogs? [via boingboing]...
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Autistic Boy, 7, Frog-marched Out Of Penguin Movie at Loew's

Location: "Loews Cineplex theaters in the Galleria at Crystal Run" State: NY, but come on, with a name like that, it could be anywhere Dramatis Personae: Anthony, a very photogenic 7-year-old with autism. In a wheelchair. Admittedly, has a hearty...
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Book Review Contest: Cat and Fish

Title: Cat and Fish Author/Illustrator: Joan Grant/ Neil Curtis Reviewer: James (Dutch) James found Cat and Fish on a trip to SFMOMA with his daughter, Junebug [I'm guessing it's a nickname, but they do live in San Francisco, so...
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Book Review Contest: Madlenka

Title: Madlenka Author/Illustrator: Peter Sis Reviewer: Holly Salmon�In a universe, on a planet, in a country, in a city�� Madlenka, by Peter Sis, has to be my favorite book in my son�s little library. The story is one of...
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Book Review Contest: The Table Where Rich People Sit

Title: The Table Where Rich People Sit Author/Illustrator: Byrd Baylor Reviewer: Clint Carter [blog: falldusk.blogspot.com]A young girl living in the desert questions her parents regarding the amount of money they make and is growing concerned as she becomes aware...
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Family Cars: Some Second Opinions

A couple of other people have some opinions on family cars I've mentioned recently on DT. [Ok, fine. They're car critics, real ones, who've actually driven the cars I just ruminate about from the curb, and one of them has...
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Listening to Reason on Gay Adoption

If an angel has appeared to you and told you that children are somehow better off in the foster care system than they are with gay parents, please come forward now with such important information. Otherwise, based on the facts,...
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Watch Out, Angelina's In An Adopting Mood

Given her months of Lara Croft training, no baby is beyond her reach, so watch out. Angelina Jolie Coming For Your Baby [theonion.com, via dt reader Michael]...
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Last Day To Get Your Book Reviews In

Sheesh, the family that inadvertently sleeps till noon together stays together, I guess. Today's the last day to submit your baby book reviews to be eligible for the prize drawings. I've got a big backlog, and will probably be running...
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August 18, 2005

Audi Q7: An SUV I'll Post About

With some rare exceptions, I'm not a fan of the SUV's. They don't need any publicity from me, and I'm only too happy to oblige by ignoring them. And there are plenty of plenty cool wagons and urban transport-type...
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Glamajama Rhinestone Baby Clothes: Your BeDazzling Days Are Over

Finally, someone's thinking of the dads. No more sleepless nights and blistered thumbs. No more combing the Internet for new designs, or driving all over town looking for replacement studs. No more pangs of guilt [I mean, come on. Doesn't...
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Coach Snoop Rocks LA's Little League Football World

A couple of years ago, a dad named Snoop Dogg got involved coaching his sons' little league football team in Los Angeles. The team got new uniforms, a thumpin' bus, and a lot of attention. Now, Snoop has broken from...
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Art: Stephen Hendee For Kids

A few months back, NY Mag did a feature on the apartment of friend-of-many-friends and art world gadabout Yvonne Force, her husband Leo Villareal. They put an awesome crystalline wall sculpture by Stephen Hendee over their kid's crib. [note...
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BIY* Marcel Breuer Coloring Book *Bind It Yourself

I think you'd need bigger scans to actually make these original Marcel Breuer sketches into the coloring book they were intended to be, but it's worth a try. Above: Breuer designed the logo for the New Haven Railroad. Original...
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Hey You, In The Old T-Shirt. Help Is On The Way

Oy. We're back home, after a 20-hr door-to-door trip from Japan (the kid slept for about 9 or so of the most crucial of those hours: the ones on the plane. Thanks, kid, for being so good and generally quiet....
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August 16, 2005

Wanted: Dads From Attachment Parent Families

I'm very interested in hearing about your experiences with Attachment Parenting, good and bad, how you've participated, how you adapted all or part of it, what kind of advice you got from other dads, and what kind advice you'd give...
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"Is This A Baby Neighborhood?"

"[Rob] Huge. [Jodie] We know so many people now�the deli, hi Miles, the laundry, hi Miles. [Miles puts on his Mickey Mouse ears.] All the stores have baby sections now. The Indian restaurant has little baby T-shirts in the window."...
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NYC Streets To Stroller Pushers: How'm I Doin'?

Well, almost. Transportation Alternatives, a non-profit advocacy group for NYC's oppressed and downtrodden masses, aka pedestrians, cyclists, and other street-using types, is asking City residents with strollers to grade their neighborhood streets for stroller-friendliness. "We've launched the survey to collect...
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Book Review Contest: Mr. Seahorse

Title: Mr. Seahorse Author/Illustrator: Eric Carle Reviewer: LeeFeminists and SAHD�s alike will likely rejoice in this book. Join Mr. Seahorse as he cares for his eggs and wanders through the sea meeting other aquatic life for whom the daddytype...
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Book Review Contest: Who's Peeking?

Title: Who's Peeking? Author/Illustrator: Charles Reasoner Reviewer: Laura McMullanMy vote for the best interactive book for a destructive 6-18 month old is this simple board book. "Who's Peeking?" is the best alternative to the lift-the-flap (i.e. tear-the-flap-off-the-book), pop-up (i.e....
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Book Review Contest: Actual Size

Title: Actual Size Author/Illustrator: Steve Jenkins Reviewer: Jordana Horn MarinoffMy 21 month old son may become a zoologist because of this book. Actual Size is a very clever book which, with each page, illustrates various animals or animal parts...
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Just Because You Didn't Name Him Osama Doesn't Mean He's Not A Terrorist

Sometimes, you just can't add anything to make a post funnier or a story more utterly ridiculous. "Infants have been stopped from boarding planes at airports throughout the U.S. because their names are the same as or similar to those...
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Salon Wants You To Shut Your Attachment Parental Piehole

August may be a slow month for parenting news [book review contest *cough cough*], which may explain why novelist-married-to-a-novelist Ayelet Waldman falls back on a classic topic in her Salon.com parenting column: unsolicited, belligerent, and judgmental "advice" from other parents...
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August 15, 2005

Book Review Contest: All the Colors of the Earth

Title: All the Colors of the Earth Author/Illustrator: Sheila Hamanaka Reviewer: Jason SperberI've loved this book long before parenthood was even an idea. I discovered it during my college activist days and was soon buying multiple copies to give...
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Roll These La Vaca and La Vaquito Cowhide Stools Right Over PETA's Toes

These well-cushioned half-egg-shaped stools have little ball-bearing skatewheels on the bottom. And they're completely covered in genuine cowhide, just in case you're wondering why your vegan friends stopped coming over for playgroup. La Vaca is the bigger one, and La...
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Bronto Plastic Childrens Chair by Richard Hutten

This was on my to-post list since before last February, when we saw them at Frozen Fountain, the sweet sweet modern design store in Amsterdam. They turned up again in the public playroom at Roppongi Hills--what, your neighborhood entertainment/retail mega-real...
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How Do You Say "Lawsuit" In Japanese?

The playground by our crashpad in Tokyo has a huge jungle gym made of logs. Granted, the suspended log bridge does have a net below it, but there are slick wooden ramps and steep dropoffs; the gaps between levels could...
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August 14, 2005

Book Review Contest: Charlie Parker Played Be Bop

Title: Charlie Parker Played Be Bop Author/Illustrator: Chris Raschka Reviewer: Jason SperberMy 9-month-old daughter loooves this book (we have it in the boardbook edition). It's a great introduction to the idea of jazz and music in book form, but...
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Book Review Contest: "More More More," Said the Baby

Title: "More More More," Said the Baby Author/Illustrator: Vera Williams Reviewer: Buck Says Buck: "The baby books we own fall into two categories: 1) ubiquitous gifts--I think we have three editions of GM, but we might have four-- and...
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Book Review Contest: The Gas We Pass

Title: The Gas We Pass Author/Illustrator: Shinta Cho Reviewer: Kevin VanderWerfWhat can you say about a book called �The Gas We Pass�? What I should say is, where should I start? I came across this book about 2 years...
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Book Review Contest: Cannonball Simp

Title: Cannonball Simp Author/Illustrator: John Burningham Reviewer: Tiffany FeasterThis is my all-time favorite children�s book. I almost hesitated to submit this book because I have always felt like it was a treasured family secret, and I wanted to keep...
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Making The NICU More Baby-Friendly

The NYT Magazine profiles the efforts of Harvard child developmental psychologist Heidelise Als to help premature babies by making the NICU more supportive of kids' brain development, not just their phsyical survival. What that involves: making the NICU more womb-like,...
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August 12, 2005

Born To Be Your Baby Stroller

If you were thinking that not only is New York City full of snobs, but New Jersey's plenty close, you can go in any time you want, and it's got a better quality of life... And besides, you're tight...
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Book Review Contest: El Oso Verde and El Hipop�tamo Amarillo

Title: El Oso Verde and El Hipop�tamo Amarillo Author: Alan Rogers Reviewer: Kevin LiuMy wife and I picked up these books in our search for bilingual and Spanish-only books. We enjoyed these two since they have a single sentence...
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Book Review Contest: The Big Red Barn

Title: The Big Red Barn Author/Illustrator: Margaret Brown/ Felicia Bond Reviewer: Theresa McCarthyYou will read it again and again. It is the simple story about one day in the lives of the inhabitants of The Big Red Barn; but...
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Book Review Contest: Go Away, Big Green Monster!

Title: Go Away, Big Green Monster! Author/Ilustrator: Ed Emberly Reviewer: John CrimminsI'll get the downside out of the way first: Hand this book to your child, and he'll destroy it in three seconds flat. It's not available in board...
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Reality TV Producers Try To Get It Up. Again.

"It" being a reality show about men competing to be some random woman's sperm donor. This time, it's a Dutch TV channel, and it's being called the Spermshow. [Actually, they're calling it the Spermashow, but hey.] If it sounds familiar,...
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August 11, 2005

Muji Summer Camp

Muji's crossing over into cult territory, but at least it's a happy, well-designed, logo-free, ecologically sound, economical cult. Muji Summer Camp has two sessions, and you already missed one. [The next one is Aug. 23-25, 3 days/2 nights.] It sounds...
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Book Review Contest: The Eye Book

Title: The Eye Book Author/Illustrator: Theodore Le Sieg/ Joe Mathieu Reviewer: bobw at beulah land [aka bob.chattablogs.com]I've been blessed with only one eye, so when I saw The Eye Book at the store, I just couldn�t resist (having never...
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Smeller Not Always The Feller

So much for THAT little perk. those were the days.A couple of weeks ago, the kid started calling them. She'd hear it, raise her eyebrows, and shout out the culprit's name. "Daddy!" or "Madison!*" Then, last week or so, she...
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Fortunately, We're Pampers People

Because otherwise, I'd have been tempted to buy the imported Huggies at the landmark ex-pat grocery store, National Azabu*. They're 3,987 yen. [$37]. We actually brought a brick of US Pampers with us, about 20 days worth, and filled in...
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British Study: The Kid Is Not My Son?

According to news reports of a new study of DNA paternity testing in the UK, nearly 4% of men turn out not to be genetically related to the kid they think is theirs. Trouble is, that 4% number is a...
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Book Review Contest: Everywhere Babies

Title: Everywhere Babies Author/Illustrator: Susan Meyers/ Marla Frazee Reviewer: Nicole ApostolaIn a not-to-cloying rhyme, this book takes the reader through the stages of baby-dom, from swaddled newborns to the transition from liquid to solid foods to learning to walk....
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Book Review Contest: Bus-Driving Pigeons, Big Trains, & Berenstain Bears

Whoa, Elizabeth at Half-Changed World reviews three books at once. Here are excerpts: The Good Title: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus Author/Illustrator: Mo WillemsMy son and I usually read it together, with his job being to say...
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DWR Childrens Furniture: DT Readers Report

I've had two emails the last couple of weeks from readers who have been in focus groups for Design Within Reach (DWR) testing an upcoming line of children's furniture and gear. As one mole put it, it includes "a full...
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August 10, 2005

Stroll-Lights To Pimp Yo' L'il Thug's Whip

Be Seen...Be Safe... Be Gettin' Maaaad Play, Day-um... With Stroll-Lights. Canada's Borderline Technologies sells these electroluminescent wires in six colors as a safety device, a way to make your stroller visible on "evening or early morning walks. Even in the...
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Dwell Magazine Onesies

First off, I'm sure Gerber wishes baby clothing had the same knockoff purist snobbery as the modern furniture market. Then Dwell magazine would be as careful about calling their new onesies "onesies" as Modernica is about calling their Eames...
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Book Review Contest: First Book of Sushi

Title: First Book Of Sushi Author/Illustrator: Amy Wilson Sanger Reviewer: Delia [blog: eliaday]This First Book of Sushi is perfect for any post-pregnancy moms that were dying for 9 months of so without their sushi fix. The bright colors and...
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Book Review Contest: Hola Jalapeno

Title: Hola Jalapeno Author/Illustrator: Amy Wilson Sanger Reviewer: Whitney Moss [whitneyandryan.com] This short board book is part of a series, all with a similar theme - ethnic food, and a similar format - cut paper artwork. Hola Jalapeno is...
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The Case Of Elmer And The Homesick Baby

Pooking around the kitchen timer section of the kinda offbeat department store Tokyu Hands was this Elmer The Gay Vague Patchwork Elephant kitchen timer, for 1,500 yen. It was too high for the kid to see, but later, when...
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August 8, 2005

Book Review Contest: Dinosaur Bob

Title Dinosaur Bob Author/Illustrator: William Joyce Reviewer: AJ from Thingamababy Joyce is a prolific artist and storyteller behind such shows as Disney's Rolie Polie Olie and the recent CD film, Robots. AJ's review of his Dinosaur Bob books morphs into...
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From The Safran Foer/Krauss Fridge

To-do list: write novel write another novel move to Park Slope cancel that reading in Houston next Jan. email DT about guest-blogging Nicole: write novel write another novel have baby get DT t-shirt...
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Book Review Contest: Airplanes and Machines at Work

Title: Airplanes; Machines at Work Author/Illustrator: Byron Barton Reviewer: Kelli CreeMy son (almost 2) really loves Byron Barton's books. His favorites are Airplanes and and Machines at Work. Airplanes is a nice board book with very clear pictures and...
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Baby Clothes For The Geek Brother Demographic

J!NX, for "Gamers, Geeks & Hackers," has a small selection of very geeky baby creepers aimed, not at geek parents, necessarily, but at geek uncles and friends, people still a looong ways away from any actual spawning activity of their...
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Newsweek: Baby Brains Should Be Smarter Sooner = Harvard Off The List As Early As 10 Wks

Newsweek's cover story is about advances in cognitive development in infants which show that babies are far more capable of emotion, memory, and analytical processing than was ever thought possible. In that zombie-like stimulus-response phase when we think they don't...
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iDuck, iDog, iGiveUp

Dress your kid up like an iPod, fine. There's nothing cuter. But we have to draw the line somewhere. And if it's not at the iDuck--a silly silver rubber duck with a water-activated LED in its stomach that was...
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Magazine Industry To Dads: Take Your Balls And Go Home

"Baby Mags Experience a Boomlet" [Mediaweek, via DT reader Christy]:...Moms moms moms moms baby magazine boom moms moms moms women women moms spending lifechange moms moms advertising moms moms busy moms financial services moms work moms moms moms baby automotive...
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TicTalk: Just Get The Kid A Cell Phone Already!!

We should all be ashamed of ourselves. While we've been moping around like grumpy old men, complaining about invasions of privacy and astronomical phone bills, what have the cell phone companies been doing? That's right, thinking of the children. And...
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August 7, 2005

The Japanese Cult Of Rody

Just going by the age of most of its customers, the 6-story character goods store in Harajuku should not be called Kiddyland. Even in this country that takes its Hello Kitty very seriously, though, she only has half a floor....
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Art: Aleksandra Mir's "The Most Beautiful Thing Today"

Every once in a while, I'll see a piece of art that I want to post, but then I think, "Nah..." Well, Aleksandra Mir's doing a project--just a little bulletin board, really--at White Columns, an alternative space in the West...
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Get Behind Me, Danny Moder

My server had a hard drive failure, and big portions of the site, including all the comments, was down for several hours. You don't skip church when your server's down, so when I got back, I found the hosting company...
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August 5, 2005

Book Review Contest: Urban Babies Wear Black

Title: Urban Babies Wear Black Author/Illustrator: Michelle Sinclair Colman, Nathalie Dion Reviewer: Laura McMullanThere isn't much to say about this book, as it isn't a piece of great literature; it's a board book. With that said, it is a hilarious...
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Book Review Contest: Action Jackson: In Your FACE, Olivia

The first review to come in was written yesterday, before the contest even started. Todd Gibson just posted his latest Review Of The Week on his blog, From The Floor, and I figure, hey, if you've got a good review...
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Sheesh. Brain-Dead Cancer Mom Gives Birth At 24 Wks

Man, this is just gut-wrenchingly sad, with just a sliver of happiness. A 26-year-old Arlington, Va. woman lost consciousness early in her pregnancy--tumor. Brain-dead. Cancer, racing through her body. Her husband and doctors decide to try to keep her heart...
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Announcing The Daddy Types Baby Book Review Contest

A while back, when I got so many great recommendations for books that don't drive you crazy if you have to read them a thousand times, I thought it'd be interesting to try a book review contest. So how about...
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Baby Blogapalooza Opens Kids Section at Design Public

Design Public, the online source for a lot of great modern design, launched a kids and baby section this week, with cool nursery stuff from DT favorites like Oeuf NYC and Argington, as well as some new (to me, aynway)...
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Unfortunate Children's Books

A growing Flickr photoset of book covers from a public school library in New Jersey. Some choice titles: Italian Peepshow, Cornzapoppin'!, and the nerdtastic I Am A Jew. Mazeltov. Unfortunate Childrens Books [flickr.com via boingboing]...
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Meet Bellevue's Male Midwife

Steven Jennings runs Bellevue Hospital's birthing center and is one of its 13 midwives, which some people, including a lot of other midwives, find a little freaky [even if the know they shouldn't]. They seem to get over it, though....
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August 4, 2005

Taking A New Look At Breasts

First, did you know it's World Breastfeeding Week? Neither did I. Second, an Australian study of mothers who breastfeed their kids past the age of two really like it, and so do the kids. [Um, but isn't that because the...
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In The Broadband Laser-filled Future, No Sperm Tail Is Safe

Where to start? A team of in vitro fertilization researchers in Australia have successfully captured a sperm cell in California. And cut its tail off. With a laser. On the Internet. While it's surprising enough to learn that IVF treatments...
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The Red Shoes

It's not like she's picking these out herself, mind you. Just that the kid seems to be a magnet for cool red shoes. First, for kickin' it old school, there are these Saltwater Sandals, which come in a million different...
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Taking A Pass On The Sensory Overload Japanese Baby Clothes

So a while back, I posted about the punk, psychedelic, retro, wacko patterned insanity of Japanese baby clothes? Well, forget it. It's not working for me in person. The kid and I took some turns through Harajuku this week and...
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Meet Mr. Mom: Before He Gets Cancelled

Looks like I picked the right time to be beyond the reach of insipid network television. If Meet Mr. Mom teaches us anything, it's that TV execs can think of nothing worst than spending time with kids. Charming. Rebel Dad...
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August 3, 2005

And I Thought DC/NYC Was A Tough Commute

The NY Observer has a long article about Lachlan Murdoch, who just quit his job at News Corp in part, it seems, because he and his wife prefer to raise their newborn son Kalan in Australia:�Sydney is a great place...
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What, No String Cheese?

Danielle (aka Celebrity Baby Blog) and Josh (aka The Food Section) took one last child-free vacation to Italy before those flying restrictions kicked in. Always on the prowl for material, Josh snapped some photos of Italian baby food for his...
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It's Now You Realize There's A Pause, But No Mute Button: iPod Onesies*

""iPod" is the property of Apple Computer. iPod My Baby is not affiliated with Apple Computer in any way, except that we love iPods. And babies." I love that they call them "Hanes onesies," which is the baby apparel industry...
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Why Cry: The Electronic Baby Cry Analyzer

When you spend $120 on The Why Cry baby cry analyzer, you're not getting what looks like a remote control to an air conditioner in Toontown [Or, that's not all you're getting, anyway.] No, my friend, once you're able to...
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NY Observer Birth Announcements

Time was when your average New York overachiever could rest easy, knowing that when he finally decided to tie the knot, his marriage would probably be announced in the New York Times. Of course, the Times is packed every weekend...
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'Japanese' Babies: "I Must Collect Them All!"

So Dan finds this giant collaged image on his server called "japanesebabies.jpg," only he doesn't know how it got there. Oh, and they're Korean babies. Translations of the captions are in Dan's comments, but I don't know how accurate they...
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August 2, 2005

Or Maybe You DO Pattern Your Entire Life After TV Shows...

If so, then you're in luck, you lazy, beer-drinkin' bum. The social engineers of network television have created a cultural paradigm disguised as a TV series, called Meet Mr. Mom, And they hope it sticks. Just from this cliche-ridden article,...
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Reality TV Shocker! "Experts": SuperNanny Advice Is "Simplistic," "Questionable"

I sure hope you didn't get up in the middle of the night to read this. Pediatricians, child therapists, and some of the stodgier flavors of child development experts think that those nannies on reality TV are sometimes not that...
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August 1, 2005

Put Down That Cookie.

ACK! THE BABY OR THE FURS? Don't choose, now keep both! 10 QUICK CLEANING TIPS According to a Conde Nast source who's no doubt already nursing several eating disorders of her own, when the editors showed the debut issue...
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Bite Me

At least the kid isn't inciting a nurseryful of her colleagues into a biting frenzy that sends their hapless victim to the hospital, like they do in Croatia. Supposedly. But still, I have to confess, the kid knows her way...
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